Data centres on the ballot: could the AI infrastructure shape US midterms?
数据中心登上选票：AI基础设施会塑造美国中期选举吗？
Voters from Ohio to Illinois decide dozens of local measures on Tuesday, as opposition to the giant buildings powering AI cuts across party lines.
美国中期选举投票日，多州选民将就数据中心的地方措施直接表决。盖洛普民调显示七成美国人反对在本地建数据中心，反对声浪已跨越党派。
文章把一场地方公投放进AI产业扩张的背景下：数据中心耗电巨大、扩张迅速，引发跨党派反弹。可以练习细节定位（38个辖区、41项措施、21项在俄亥俄）、数据读图（盖洛普七成反对、议题排名超过气候变化），以及因果链梳理——为什么AI热潮会转化为选票上的具体条款。适合练同义替换与作者态度的克制表达。
Voters from Ohio to Illinois decide dozens of local measures on Tuesday, as opposition to the giant buildings powering AI cuts across party lines.
When Americans vote on Tuesday, some will be deciding more than who goes to Congress. They’ll also help decide whether more data centres, the giant buildings that power AI, get built near them, and under what rules.
Until recently, few people had heard of them. Now they’re at the heart of the AI boom, housing the chips and servers behind services like ChatGPT and Claude. But their rapid growth and huge electricity use have sparked backlash, not just in the US but worldwide.
A Gallup poll in May found seven in ten Americans oppose a data centre being built in their area. In its latest poll, released Thursday, it ranked ahead of climate change as an important issue for residents in the upcoming midterm election.
According to Reuters, voters in 38 local jurisdictions will consider at least 41 measures to delay, ban or set new rules for data centres. Twenty-one are in Ohio, where Democrats and Republicans are joining forces against them.
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来源：France 24 · france24.com